Nuance KAI S PHOTO SOAP 2 User manual

1

User Guide

for Windows

®

and Macintosh

®

2

Trademarks

Kai’s Photo Soap 2 is a trademark of ScanSoft, Inc.

“Macintosh” is a registered trademark of Apple Computer, Incorporated. “Windows” and

“PowerPoint” are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. “Pentium” is a

registered trademark of Intel Corporation. All other product names mentioned in the

manual and other documentation are used for identification purposes only and may be

trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies. Registered and

unregistered trademarks used herein are the exclusive property of their respective owners.

ScanSoft, Inc. makes no claim to any such marks, nor willingly or knowingly misused or

misapplied such marks.

Copyright

may be transmitted, transcribed, reproduced, stored in any retrieval system or translated

into any language or computer language in any form or by any means, mechanical,

electronic, magnetic, optical, chemical, manual, or otherwise, without the prior written

consent of ScanSoft, Inc., 9 Centennial Drive, Peabody, Massachusetts 01960. Printed

both in the United States of America and the United Kingdom. The software described in

this book is furnished under license and may be used or copied only in accordance with

the terms of such license.

Important Notice

ScanSoft, Inc. provides this publication “as is” without warranty of any kind, either

express or implied, including but not lim-ited to the implied warranties of

merchantability or fitness for a particu-lar purpose. Some states or jurisdictions do not

allow disclaimer of ex-press or implied warranties in certain transactions; therefore, this

statement may not apply to you. ScanSoft reserves the right to revise this publication and

to make changes from time to time in the content hereof without obligation of ScanSoft to

notify any person of such revision or changes.

® ScanSoft, Inc.

9 Centennial Drive

Peabody, Massachusetts 01960

Kai’s Photo Soap 2 User’s Guide

August 2000

iii

TABLE OF

Welcome to Kai’s Photo Soap 2 7

12 What’s New?

13 Getting Help

14 Starting and Quitting Soap 2

15 Exploring Kai’s Photo Soap 2

22 The Soap 2 Transporter

23 Undo, Apply, and Save

25 Using Albums

26 Exporting Photos

27 Expanding Soap 2’s Power

Installing Kai’s Photo Soap 2 29

Organizing Photos 31

32 Overview

32 Loading Photos

33 Working with Thumbnails

37 Previewing Photos

38 Getting File Information

39 Removing Image Files from your Computer

40 Switching Views

41 Working with Desktops

43 Sorting and Searching for Photos

Fixing Photos 48

49 Overview

50 What Kai’s Photo Soap 2 Can Fix

50 Using the Tools

iv

54 Rotating and Sizing Photos

59 Adjusting Color

71 Automatically Fixing Photos

74 Healing Flaws

77 Smoothing and Sharpening

79 Removing Red Eye

80 Removing date and time stamps

81 Duplicating photo elements

83 Other Fun Effects

86 Having Fun with Masks

Composing Images 91

92 Building Compositions

93 Working with Composition Layers

104 Adding Photos to your Composition

105 Adding Text

107 Adding Objects, Backgrounds, and Edges

108 Adding Shadows to Layers

110 Adding a Canvas Color

111 Saving and Reloading a Composition

Using Albums 114

115 Overview

116 Selecting an Album Style

117 Changing the Layout

118 Loading Photos

119 Adding Text

121 Printing Albums

v

TABLE OF

122 Saving Albums

122 Viewing Album Information

122 Sharing Albums

Printing Photos 123

125 Overview

126 Printing a Single Photo

127 Printing in Rows and Columns

128 Printing to Popular Sizes

128 Supported Avery and Kodak Papers

128 Loading Special Papers Correctly

129 Printing to Perforated Paper

130 Printing to Special Designs

132 Printing Posters

133 Adding Backgrounds or Frames

134 Scaling Up or Down

135 Rotating Photos to Fit

135 Flipping for Iron-Ons

136 Repeating Images on a Page

136 Printing Page Text

136 Printing Filenames, Dates, and Headers

137 Setting Margins

137 Keeping Settings

138 Previewing

138 Page Setup

Sharing Photos 139

139 Sending Photos with E-mail

vi

141 Exporting a Desktop as a Web Page

143 Exporting an Album as a Web page

145 Exporting Photos as a PhotoCube Web Page

(PC only)

Using Plug-Ins 147

Appendix A:Tips About Photos 151

152 Tips About Scanning

152 Selecting Photos

Appendix B:Key Shortcuts 154

154 Using Soap 2 Keyboard Shortcuts

Appendix C: Supported Papers 155

Glossary 156

Index 162

7

INTRODUCING SOAP 2

Welcome to Kai’s Photo Soap 2

Kai’s Photo Soap 2 is the next generation of Kai’s Power Soap. Load photos from your

computer’s hard drive, a digital camera, a scanner, a picture CD, or right off the Internet.

Collect photos, correct them, then tweak them with special tools and filters. Present

photos in digital photo albums and slideshows. Print photos and even output them ready

for the Web!

Some of the many things you can do with Soap 2.

8

What Can You Do with Soap 2?

With Soap 2, you can:

• organize your photos

• display and share photos in Soap 2 electronic photo albums

• repair damaged old photos

• create fun special effects

• add clip art, text, or cartoons to a photo composition

• create artful collages, using multiple photos

• export photos or albums to use on the WEB

• prepare photos to send over e-mail or in an interactive slideshow

• view photos in several ways

You can see your photos on a Soap 2 “desktop” or “lightbox”.

9

INTRODUCING SOAP 2

• print photos in rows and columns, or in popular sizes

• crop and rotate photos

You can print in rows or in popular sizes.

No more messing with scissors to trim a photo to the correct size. You can rotate or crop photos

easily in Soap 2.

10

• rescue torn, faded, dusty, or wrinkled photos

• make a photo brighter or sharper.

You can rescue torn, faded, dusty, or wrinkled photos.

Adjust the brightness or tweak the contrast to get a better look.

11

INTRODUCING SOAP 2

• fix red eye or even remove a time/date stamp

• create fun projects—working with multiple photos, using plug-in filters, adding clip

art, text, backgrounds or frames.

Get rid of red-eye.

Get creative!.

12

What’s New?

For those using Version 1 of Kai’s Photo Soap, there are so many cool new features in

Kai’s Photo Soap 2 that you’ll want to explore the entire program. Here are a few of the

things you’ll find:

• The image window is sizable and Soap 2 now lets you work with multiple photos, so

you can fix and clone like crazy. Think of the possibilities.

• A Transporter lets you move photos between the Organize, Clean, Compose, and Print

areas of the product. Just drop photos into the Transporter then drag them out when you

want to work with them.

• You can fix color problems with the new QuickColor tool, use Auto Enhance—a way

to handle some photo color problems one click at a time, paint right on a photo, and

colorize photos for cool effects.

• There are multiple levels of Undo, so you can experiment... change your mind... and

use the Undo command to step back through your changes.

• You can greatly expand Soap 2 capabilities by using PhotoShop compliant filters.

Apply these kinds of effects to the entire photo or brush them onto specific parts of the

picture.

• There are new ways to share photos. Layouts from leaders in photo technology (like

Avery and Kodak) help turn your computer into a mini-darkroom! Print sheets of

photos, greeting cards, collages, and even posters—right from Kai’s Photo Soap 2.

13

INTRODUCING SOAP 2

Getting Help

You will find the answers to most of your questions within the pages of this User Guide.

If you need further assistance, contact ScanSoft Technical Support on the World Wide

Web at:

www.scansoft.com

14

Starting and Quitting Soap 2

To start Soap 2:

✤

Double-click the Kai’s Photo Soap 2 logo.

To quit Soap 2

✤

Choose Output menu > Quit Soap 2 or Input menu > Quit Soap 2. (You can also Press Ctrl

+ Q on Windows or Cmd + Q on a Macintosh).

If you’ve made changes to a photo, Soap 2 asks if you want to save your work before

quitting. Refer to “Saving your Work” on page 24 for more about the ways you can save

your work. As a rule of thumb, if you aren’t ready to actually make changes to the

photo file you’re modifying, save your work using a new file name or save it as

work in progress (a Soap 2 project or composition file).

To access your computer’s operating system while using Soap 2:

✤

Click in the upper right or upper left portion of the Soap 2 screen.

You can quit/minimize Soap 2 (Win). You can hide, select another program, or use

the Apple menu (Mac).

15

INTRODUCING SOAP 2

Exploring Kai’s Photo Soap 2

No more dusty boxes of pictures! Photo Soap 2 makes it easy to store photos. The

Organize tab opens an area where you can load, view, and sort your photos. Select a

photo, then drop it in the Transporter to work with it. From here, you can save a

thumbnail desktop arrangement for later Soap 2 sessions; export a desktop of thumbnails

as a Web page; print selected photos; see a quick photo “slideshow” and prepare photos to

send with an e-mail.Soap 2

Load, view, and sort your photos in the Organize area.

Click the Organize tab to

open, view, or sort photos.

Open photos.

Sort photos.

View photos in different ways.

Drop photos on the Transporter, then move

them to other areas in Soap 2.

Print, make slideshows, send

photos over e-mail, export for the

Web, or Quit Soap 2 program.

Help answers

your questions.

Converse with other Photo Soap 2

users.

16

In Contact Sheet view, you can study photos in a popular photographers’ review sheet

layout. Export this desktop view to HTML and drop it on a browser for a great way to

pass photos around for review. From here, you can also print selected photos, make

slideshows and send selected photos via e-mail.

Look at photos in Contact Sheet view for easy recognition.

Choose a Contact Sheet view from the View

menu.

Drop photos on the Transporter, then move them to other

areas in Soap 2.

17

INTRODUCING SOAP 2

Soap 2 Albums make it easy to display photos. Pick an Album style and just drop photos

into place. Add some text and your album’s complete. From here, you can print your

Album or export an Album to use on the Web.

Display or print photos in cool electronic Albums.

Click Album, then put photos into Albums or Frames to

be presented, printed, e-mailed, or posted on the Web.

Drag photos from the Transporter into

empty Album slots.

Choose an

Album or

Frame style,

then click

the Select

button.

Click Prev

and Next for

more Album

styles.

18

You can fix or enhance a photo in the Clean area. From here, you can also print or export

a photo for use on the Web.

Fix or enhance photos in Soap 2’s Clean area.

Drag a photo from the Transporter.

Click Clean to make changes to a photo.

Zoom in or

out.

Adjust brush size.

Fix or enhance parts of your

photo, using the Soap 2 tools.

Move the

photo in the

window.

Choose

an

effect.

Use the Image menu to

correct color, paint, crop,

rotate, or add effects to your

photo.

Click to

access

features

19

INTRODUCING SOAP 2

To make fast adjustments to brightness, contrast, hue, saturation, red balance, green

balance, or blue balance in your photo, choose Image menu > Quick color. The Quick color

selector first lets you select what you want to change, then gives you variations or

selections from which to choose. Pick what looks best to YOU.

Each time you click a variation, new variations are displayed. Click until you get the look

you like best. Hit Reset anytime you want to start over. And, be sure to try the Auto

Enhance button!

QuickColor lets you adjust brightness, contrast, hue, saturation, as well as red, blue, and green

balance in your photo. Make quick adjustments with QuickColor!

Choose Quick color.

Click the

selection that

looks best.

Select what

you want to

change.

Try the

Auto

Enhance

button!

Compare

selections with

your original

photo.

20

The Compose tab opens an area where you can really get creative. After you’ve fixed or

modified photos, you can create compositions by dropping one or more photos onto the

canvas, adding objects (like cartoon elements), put in a little text, and generally have fun.

From here, you can print, export for use on the Web.

In the Compose area, you can build a picture. Drop photos on the canvas. Resize or stretch them.

Rotate elements. Add some text. Put a cartoon in for fun. Add a background. Have FUN!

Edit layers.

Stretch,

move rotate

a layer.

Preview

layers.

Hide/Show

layers.

Control layer

transparency.

Set up shadows

Set

background

color

Add text to

composition

.Set text

attributes

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